


Idealism Sits in Prison

by generic_cruiser



Series: Rewriting reality: Framework AUs [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Framework Universe (Marvel), F/M, Framework AU, Gen, i wrote this in like two hours, we're in our feels today
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29449875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/generic_cruiser/pseuds/generic_cruiser
Summary: What if the Framework had actually created the perfect world? And how would Daisy and Simmons have handled it?*title from the song "From Eden" by Hozier*
Relationships: Implied Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Jemma Simmons & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Lincoln Campbell & Jemma Simmons, Lincoln Campbell/Skye | Daisy Johnson
Series: Rewriting reality: Framework AUs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202327
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	Idealism Sits in Prison

**Author's Note:**

> Happy valentine's day! In celebration here's.....absolutely no fluff at all :) *for some reason AO3 has time traveled and thinks I posted this on the 15th when I live where the 15th is four hours away from happening so that's weird*
> 
> This came to me literally in the middle of the night and then I fell asleep and then woke up and actually wrote it. It's mostly pretty sad, because why not get angsty on Feb. 14th. I might turn this into a multi chapter fic if yall want, but it mostly serves as a break from my WIP fic, which has already been updated with chapter two. But if people want more chapters, you shall receive more chapters.
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this, because Framework AUs have always been some of my favorites. Most of the fic is Daisy panicking and Simmons being mildly rational because that's basically the entire show. 
> 
> Feedback and requests are welcome as per usual, please lmk if I should add more to this.

Daisy wakes up submerged in water. 

Her immediate thought is _panic_ as her head dips under, because what if she’s in an ocean or a pool or she’s being drowned. But then she feels the cool surface under her legs, and comes back up for air in a bathtub in a nicely sized bathroom. It’s very obviously where she lives in this reality; her brand of shampoo is sitting by the sink, along with a different brand she doesn’t recognize. So she’s not living alone. 

A phone - _her phone_ \- buzzes as she’s drying her hair, and Daisy checks it almost instinctively. And nearly chokes. 

The name on the screen reads “Mom,” and the message is asking her to wake her boyfriend, they’ve got work. 

_What the fuck._

Daisy understands the concept of the Framework on a base level: an alternate reality of code that supposedly is a better place than the real world. So Aida’s idea of a better life for Daisy Johnson is Jiaying and Lincoln? Unless Mom and Boyfriend are different people, although she can’t think of anyone else she would want in either of those roles (well, maybe one for Mom but that’s impossible). What kind of work would she be doing for Jiaying though? The bathroom looks nothing like the ones at Afterlife, and it wasn’t her wish to work there anyways. 

There are clothes already laid out by the bathtub, and they’re the exact things Daisy wore before Lincoln died; less gothy, more practical. She’s daring to speculate as to what this means, although it would be that much harder to shut down the Framework if Lincoln’s alive in it. Which might be Aida’s plan, now that she thinks about it. It’s not a bad plan. 

She steps out of the bathroom, fully clothed, and into a well lit bedroom. And a man in her bed. His face is obscured by pillows, but Daisy’s hope grows and grows. 

“Lincoln?” 

The man stirs, reaching for the empty side of the bed and sitting up in alarm when he feels nothing. That’s when he notices her, and smiles all too familiarly. “Hey, you could’ve woken me before getting dressed.” 

Daisy almost forgets how to speak. “Yeah….sorry. My mom texted, she said we need to get to work.” _Shit shit shit._

Lincoln grimaces. “Is it bad that I’m still kind of scared of her?”

Why would he be scared of Jiaying? “Uh, no, not really.” 

“That’s what I get for dating the Cavalry’s daughter, huh.” 

_What the fuck._

Daisy struggles through the rest of the conversation with Lincoln as he gets dressed, trying to gauge as much as she can about their situation. Her mind sticks on the fact that _he’s alive he’s alive he’s alive_ and _May’s my mom May is my mother what the fuck._ So far the only other things she can discern are that they work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and they both still have powers. She knew she had hers from the moment she woke up, but the buzzing under her skin was so familiar that she didn’t even notice. And Lincoln clearly still has his when he pushes his hand through his hair and literal sparks fly. Oh, and Coulson is her _dad._ And is married to May what the _fuck._

It all feels wrong, when it really shouldn’t. 

Lincoln drives them to the Triskelion, and it’s every bit as impressive as Fitzsimmons said. Daisy never went while it was still in use, but saw pictures and news reels after Captain America smashed it to bits with helicarriers. 

It’s awful how _easy_ everything is here. She and Lincoln share small affectionate touches like it’s nothing, and apparently they’re something like legends at S.H.I.E.L.D. because everyone knows them and stares in awe as they pass through security. Somehow the stares aren’t as bad as they were when she was Quake in the real world. They’re almost comforting, like a reminder of how strong she is. 

20 minutes in, and Daisy already is having second thoughts about tearing it all down. 

She needs to find Simmons so they can make a game plan, and it’s pretty easy to convince Lincoln to stop by the lab. Their banter is back at the level it was before he died in the real world, and Daisy’s heart twists every time she reminds herself that _it’s not real._

“I’ve been meaning to ask Simmons about her progress with the terrigen crystals,” Lincoln says as they exit the elevator. He even holds his arm out to keep the doors open like a fucking gentleman and wow she doesn’t want to leave him anytime soon. _He’s just code he’s not real he’s code._

They hear Simmons before they see her, and Daisy’s heart sinks because she hears Fitz too. The first person she’s seen that’s alive and real and Simmons might not want to leave either if her life with Fitz is as good as Daisy’s life with Lincoln. 

~

Jemma wakes up in a too warm bed. 

Her immediate thoughts are along the lines of _where the fuck am I_ and _why is it so warm in here?_

Her second question is answered when she notices the arm wrapped around her, and feels the other body pressed against her back. She recognizes the arm instantly, and the scent of the man behind her, because it’s incredibly familiar and feels exactly like home. At least Aida got one thing right.

Fitz stirs behind her, yawning and wrapping his arm around Jemma tighter. Like he always does when they wake up together, and she has to remind herself over and over that _it’s not real_ but it feels real. 

He feels her tense, and she feels him frown. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, fine.” Because she is fine, too fine for being in a virtual reality with the man she loves. She needs to find Daisy. 

Fitz presses his lips to her hair. _Fuck._ “We should probably get to work, Lincoln wanted those crystals analyzed yesterday.” 

Oh, oh no. Aida really did fix things, and if Daisy knows about Lincoln then their plan might be fucked. 

Their house is beautiful. It looks like the one Jemma visited when Daisy showed up with three bullet wounds, quietly reminding her that this is all fake, they never got to live here. She gravitates towards the bathroom, a nagging thought in the back of her head needing to be soothed. 

She doesn’t know whether to be worried or sigh with relief when Fitz’s hypoxia pills aren’t anywhere. It means that Ward, or at least their debacle at the bottom of the ocean, didn’t happen in this reality. Fitz’s mind is whole. Not that he wasn’t absolutely perfect despite his injury, but Jemma can’t help but be relieved that that specific trauma hasn’t affected them. She is worried that Aida may not take into consideration the toll being plugged into an alternate reality would have on Fitz’s mind, but then again she’s a supercomputer. Hopefully Radcliffe programmed some knowledge of brain injury into her sadistic mind. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. is still a present fixture in their lives, but apparently they aren’t field agents. Jemma’s not surprised; she’s mulled over the fact that if they hadn’t entered the field they wouldn’t’ve faced as much as they had far too many times. It makes perfect sense that Aida would omit that part of their lives, omit as much trauma and endurance as she could to make them never want to leave. There are parts of being in the field, a part of Coulson’s team, that Jemma would never want to let go off, but those have been washed away by coding. Which she reminds herself as they walk through the Triskelion: this is fake, this is all code and numbers, we can’t stay here. 

The lab that is apparently all their own is an exact replica of the one at the Playground, except much much bigger and devoid of the 20 something other agents that are usually milling about. It’s beautiful. _We can’t stay here._

“I think our experiments from last night are still out if you’d like to start there.” Fitz shrugs on a lab coat as Jemma observes their recent work. Terrigen crystals are scattered everywhere, and all the experiments are on said crystals. So Inhumans probably exist, but they don’t seem to know much about them. 

It would probably be suspicious of her to know the answers to all of Fitz’s Terrigen related questions, so Jemma lets them go through all of the experiments, mostly so that they don’t alert Aida to their presence, but also for the sake of nostalgia. It’s nice to bicker and work in their own lab for once, being left alone to go through their methods in peace. And everything feels familiar and warm and for a moment she lets herself forget that everything is fake and just enjoys being with the love of her life. 

Until Lincoln Campbell walks in, hand in hand with Daisy. Shit.


End file.
